A fairy tale

Once upon a time, there was a young woman, just blossoming into womanhood. This young woman was languishing in one of those awkward times of life when the search for identity meets the loss of childhood. She was in her middle teens and, like all teens, thought she knew everything. This was problematic, though. Because of the little bit of the "real world" she had experienced, she had grown dismayed and withdrawn. She saw the darkness that could live in the real world and had not seen much of the tenderness. Because this young woman was intelligent and mature beyond her years, she found it difficult to relate to adolescents her own age. She called them "immature" and "childish." This adolescent had no desire to go to the prom or to football games or to participate in school activities, because she could not fit in. It is not that she did not desire acceptance and a peer group to belong to. She wanted to fit in somewhere, but did not know where. No clique's suited her, no high school activities interested her. Boys were too immature and only wanted one thing.

As this young woman with an old soul began speaking with me, the fairy tale began to come to life.

(to be continued)